Twitter Opens Up Ad Tools to HootSuite, Salesforce and More

Over the past few years, Twitter has rolled out a number of advertising options designed to insert brand messaging seamlessly into the Tweet stream. It’s been a slow process, which I’m sure has frustrated more than one ad manager but the process is working and today, they took the next step.

Twitter is now opening up their system to allow advertisers to manage their Promoted Tweets from a third-party dashboard such as HootSuite.

The new API (application programming interface) makes ad placement more flexible and changes can be made on the fly to take advantage of specific time periods or external events (Like a blackout at the Super Bowl.) It will also be easier to buy ads and automate the entire ad system.

Right now, they’re working with only five platforms; Adobe, HootSuite, Salesforce, SHIFT, and
TBG Digital. Each of these companies is offering the service to a limited number of clients but it all goes well, it’s certain to roll out to more people and more places.

Here’s a look at the new interface on HootSuite:

With this system, everything happens in one place. You create the Tweet inside your usual dashboard then use the drop down options to target the audience. Filters include Interests, Location, Gender, even the type of device used to access Twitter. That’s important for anyone focusing on mobile customers.

As interest in Twitter has grown, our focus has been on delivering better ads for users, not more ads. We believe our system is working well because users like the ads experience on Twitter. Our system rewards marketers for being good, not for being loud. And this approach encourages ads that are engaging, relevant and useful.

Good, not loud. I like that and I think it’s true of Twitter. I find most of the ads on Facebook to be cold and irrelevant. I can’t remember ever clicking through on one. But the Promoted Tweets on Twitter have personality and they speak to me at least 50% of the time. I can’t say Twitter never gets it wrong, but I never come away with a negative impression because of advertising. I can’t say that about any other form of digital advertising.

Big brand messages work on Twitter, now all Twitter has to do is prove that their ads can work for small business, too.